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Sunday, 29 May 2016

We are currently working on a small
campaign based on the retreat to Corunna by Moore forces for Sharp Practice. The campaign rules
are not ready yet and Richard Clarke already warned that we should dump away
the Chain of Command mentality, as in this period battles are less important
than outmanoeuvring your foes in the field. For this reason, the plan is to
play four interlinked scenarios instead of a full campaign with the same
forces. Eventually (...this is our intention..) the campaign will be published in the
Summer Special 2016.

The game today was the action taking
place on 3 January 1809, a rearguard defensive battle of the British at the
town of Cacabelos in El Bierzo (Leon) area. It is a well known action because the
French commander General Colbert was killed by a British rifle marksman called
Thomas Plunkett killed at an uncertain distance. There is some confusion about this
event, but likely a known impatient Colbert risked too much when reconnoitring
the advanced outpost and rifleman Plunkett took his chances... and hit bang on
target.

Friday, 27 May 2016

As many other wargamers, history is an integral
part of my hobby activities. Believe or not, I have neglected the Napoleonic
period for a long time and even more the so called (more on this later)“Peninsular Wars” in the English speaking
world, about which I’m a total ignorant despite being Spanish.

The recent publication of Sharp Practice by
TooFatLardies is marking an end to this period of ignorance, as my gaming mates
have embraced the rules with our renowned Spanish passion… and of course with a
view to fight games against the invader of our sacred soil.

The fact is that part of my lack of interest in
the Napoleonic period in Spain is the result of my school education. Being a
child of the 60s, with Franco still alive and kicking, history was taught always
in the key of the Spanish Civil War.

I’ll try to clarify. Script:

·Spain had always been Spain since
the prehistoric ages.

·The Romans were invaders, The
Visigoths, the Moors… all were invaders alien to our immortal soul and culture
and all were defeated in due time.

·The French of course were also
invaders and actually a bunch of pre-communist revolutioners and atheists that
wanted to destroy our culture.

·The last attempt to destroy our
Spanish soul was the unholy alliance of Marxist-Leninists, Jews and Masons in
1936… thank God, Franco was there and we were free to live as true Spanish
since then.

Sunday, 22 May 2016

The French and British forces in the
Iberian Peninsula fought today for the control of Cascajales de Alba, a small
poor village in the border with Portugal, but key to the French defensive line
in the Tagus valley.

This was Scenario 5 of the Sharp Practice
book. The French were on the defensive this time and to win, the British must
capture the house with the blue line on the map below. The French had a Regular
core force plus 10 support points, invested in a gun with leader level I.

Sunday, 8 May 2016

Today I played my second Sharp Practice
game (third for my gaming pals as I missed the one organized the last weekend).
We used Scenario 3 “Defence in Depth" of the book, in the context of the
Talavera Battle (July 1809), the French attack on Cerro Medellín.

French attack and British defend in
this scenario. I played on the French side and chose the French Regulars as
core force, adding an artillery piece, a Dragoon groupand a Big Man level I as supports.

The terrain was basically
featureless, with a hill (Cerro Medellin) dominating the British deployment
area and small stream (minor obstacle) marking the limit of its defensive line.
The British had a primary and a secondary deployment points located within the
first 12 and 36 inches of its table edge.

The French also had two deployment points
to be located in the two halves of their table side and with 6 inches of the
edge.

The French had to capture the
British primary deployment point or force their withdrawal from the battlefield
to win.

About Anibal Invictus

A fairly experienced Spanish wargamer, based in Madrid. Together with a group of friends founder of "Club Dragón" in the early 80s. A truly TooFatLardies gruppie since a first love encounter in 2008, I regularly play the Napoleonic, WWI, WWII and Vietnam periods.